G. Gordon Winder's letter (Sept. 1996,
p. 211) argues that
ASA should revise its Statement of Faith to include a statement that science and
religion are "compatible." He points to Christians as unique among
religionists in expecting debate between "science and religion." Yet
debate is vigorous within science, between religions, and within any religion
with enough intellectual content to support theological reflection. Why should
debate not occur when Christianity interacts with science?

In publishing Teaching Science in a Climate of
Controversy, ASA has made at least one effort to "pursue compromise and
conciliation to initiate resolution," as urged by Winder. Responses to that
publication from hard-nosed atheists in the scientific community indicated that
for ASA to "declare compatibility" would have no more influence on the
real situation than the U.S. declaration of victory had in the Vietnam War. To
some scientists, endorsing any statement of Christian faith was enough to
demonstrate that the ASA authors could not be "real scientists."

By signing the ASA statement, thousands of scientists provide
abundant evidence that science and Christianity do meet harmoniously in
individual lives. Within the ASA "forum," I find the debates more
often between two ways of interpreting scientific data, or two ways of drawing
theological conclusions, than between "science and Christianity."
Besides sharpening our ideas, debates within ASA make our unity in Jesus Christ
all the more obvious: they give us opportunities to show love for those with
whom we disagree.